Method and system for selling authorizations

Abstract

In a method and a system for selling authorizations for events or the like, particularly for various types of tickets, sellable authorizations are defined in databases, and an advance booking agency or a purchaser accesses via the Internet the database for reserving and/or purchase of the authorizations. The venues are equipped with admission readers for identifying tickets provided in the form of data carriers, and the admission readers of each venue communicate with an area server, which includes a database of the sold authorizations for this venue. The servers are connected via a network, for example the Internet. The advance booking agencies or private users connect to a Web server by entering suitable addresses. The Web server retrieves the sellable price quotation from the database of the area server over a secure connection, and displays the sellable price quotation on the display of the advance booking office.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for selling authorizations for an event, in particular for various types of tickets, comprising the steps of: 
 defining a sellable authorization in a database connected to an area server associated with a venue of the event, said sellable authorization including a sellable price quotation of a ticket for the event;    a user calling up an address relating to the event on a Web server;    the Web server retrieving a sellable price quotation from the database of the area server via a secure connection and displaying the sellable price quotation to the user;    the user producing a ticket corresponding to a sold authorization; and    an access reader communicating with the area server and receiving from the area server data representing sold authorizations, said access reader recognizing the authorized ticket.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein after the user has selected a ticket, ticket data, such as an event number or a seat number, are generated by the area server and transmitted to the user, and wherein the ticket is encoded at the user by using the transmitted ticket data.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein after the user has selected a ticket, the user transmits a unique ticket number together with the selected authorization to the area server, and wherein the area server transmits the selected authorization and the unique ticket number to the access reader, allowing a ticket with the unique ticket number to be recognized by the access reader.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user has associated therewith a unique data carrier number, and wherein after the user has selected a ticket, the user transmits the authorization identification together with the unique data carrier number to the area server, with the access reader receiving from the area server the authorization identification, so that the ticket can be read and authorized directly at the access based on the unique data carrier number.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the Web server, when first queried by the user, transmits to the user a box office program which is stored in a local memory at the user, and wherein the box office program receives sales criteria from the area server when the area server is queried.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein when an area server is queried, a quantity of tickets is transferred to the box office program, and wherein data between the local box office program and the area server are matched for each sale, with the area server optionally replenishing an insufficient quantity of tickets.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the unique ticket number is implemented as a barcode.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the user comprises an advance booking agency.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the Web server retrieves the sellable price quotation from the database via a secure connection.  
     
     
         10 . A system for selling authorizations for an event, in particular for various types of tickets, comprising: 
 a Web server connected to a network;    a client server connected to the Web server via the network and receiving input from and displaying contents to a user;    an area server connected to the Web server via a secure connection and associated with a venue of the event,    a database connected to the area server and comprising sellable authorizations and sellable price quotations of a ticket for the event; and    an access reader communicating with the area server and receiving from the area server data representing sold authorizations, said access reader adapted to recognize the authorized ticket,    wherein the Web server, based on input from the user, retrieves a sellable price quotation from the database of the area server and displays the sellable price quotation to the user.    
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein after the user has selected a ticket based on the sellable price quotation, ticket data, such as an event number or a seat number, are generated by the area server and transmitted to the user, and wherein the ticket is encoded at the user by using the transmitted ticket data.  
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein after the user has selected a ticket based on the sellable price quotation, the client server transmits a unique ticket number together with the selected authorization to the area server, and wherein the area server transmits the selected authorization and the unique ticket number to the access reader, allowing a ticket with the unique ticket number to be recognized by the access reader.  
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein after the user has selected a ticket based on the sellable price quotation, a unique data carrier number is associated with the user, and the client server transmits the authorization identification together with the unique data carrier number to the area server, with the access reader receiving from the area server the authorization identification, so that the ticket can be read and authorized directly at the access based on the unique data carrier number.  
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the Web server, when first queried by the user, transmits to the user a box office program which is stored in a local memory at the user, and wherein the box office program receives sales criteria from the area server when the area server is queried.  
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein when an area server is queried, a quantity of tickets is transferred to the box office program, and wherein data between the local box office program and the area server are matched for each sale, with the area server optionally replenishing an insufficient quantity of tickets.  
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the unique ticket number is implemented in form of a barcode.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the user comprises an advance booking agency or a private user.  
     
     
         18 . A computer system for selling authorizations for events or the like, in particular various types of the tickets, comprising 
 one or more regional servers being connected to the Internet and having databases defining the sellable authorizations,    one or more admission readers located at a venue of an event for identifying tickets provided in the form of data carriers, the admission readers of each venue communicating with a regional server associated with the venue, with the database of the regional server including sold authorizations for the venue, and    a Web server in communication via the Internet with one or more advance booking agencies or a private user,    wherein an advance booking agency or private user calls up a suitable address on the Web server, which Web server retrieves a sellable price quotation from the database of the regional server via a secure connection and displays the sellable price quotation on a display of the advance booking agency or private user.    
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the data carrier comprises a unique ticket identification number represented on the ticket in form of a barcode.  
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the data carrier comprises a unique identification number of a user of the ticket.